The Dandy Lion

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Do you guys ever wish you were an old French dude in a cafe, getting blitzed out of his mind and then creating, like, ground-breaking art and short stories and shit? Ok, maybe that’s just me. But apparently the way to do this is to drink absinthe, otherwise known as the green muse.

Not only does absinthe make you a creative genius, but it’s also shrouded in mystery and danger, having been banned until fairly recently. (How do I know all this? Let’s just say that Netflix Watch It Now has a limited selection, and when you’re bored, a documentary on absinthe sounds positively badass.) So I had to try it.

Unfortunately, turns out that absinthe tastes like butt. More specifically, it tastes like black licorice butt. I’m not being racist– I mean the black licorice as opposed to the red licorice. In any case, I’m stuck with almost a full bottle of absinthe because of Netflix Watch It Now and my desire to be just like Van Gogh, minus the ear chopping off part.

AHA! thought I. Now I can get rid of this stuff in a cocktail, because stuff never tastes as bad in a cocktail. Take my beloved Tom Collins, for example. Gin by itself tastes like pinecone juice. But in a Tom Collins, it’s lovely.

I attempted this cocktail once before, but had a flaccid cucumber incident. Well, really, liquified cucumber. (Got that mental image? You’re welcome.) This time, though, I was armed with a properly turgid cucumber, thank you very much.

And also, I acquired a muddler. Aren’t you guys proud of me? I didn’t have to use the blunt end of my absinthe spoon to muddle this! I am obviously thrilled:

At this point I was getting all excited and could almost feel the green muse creeping up on me to make me a paragon of literary prowess.

And then I took a drink.

And, despite there only being half an ounce of absinthe in the whole cocktail, it still tasted like black licorice butt. I drank half of it anyway, because, hell, I took the effort to muddle it and everything, but the green muse apparently needs a little more incentive to show up, and I ended up only slightly fuzzy-brained and tummy-upsetted.

32 Comments

First, absinthe never was dangerous. It was banned as part of the hysteria that led to Prohibition. It seems more powerful than other booze because it is very high in alcohol.Second, I don’t get “red licorice”. Licorice is a root that is anise flavored. Things like Twizzlers have no licorice in them. If there’s no licorice root in them, it isn’t licorice, no matter what the shape. That’s like calling anything served in a martini glass a martini.Third, I join you in your dislike of all things anise-ish. You are just going to have to find someone who likes that taste. I believe there are people who do.You can try making a Sazerac using absinthe as the liqueur. There’s a lot less in it, and it’s strong enough that you may not notice.

Absinthe is actually called ‘the green fairy’, not ‘green muse’ ;)It is the wormwood in the absinthe that lead to the ban. Today’s absinthe contains less of it.Although I dislike the flavor of anis, drinking absinthe is a cultural celebration. You pour a bit of absinthe in a special glass, put a slotted absinthe spoon across it, and place a sugar cube on top. Then ice cold water is slowly dripped onto the sugar cube, which melts into the absinthe, clouds it up, and releases the subtle scents of the herbs. Listen to Edith Piaf while doing so, and you can imagine yourself sitting in a cafe at Montmartre…

Wow. There are so many people on their Absinthe high horse commenting…I personally agree with you. It tastes like black licorice butt. I tried it for the first time as a shot on a dare. BLECH! I say chuck the bottle and get something better tasting…like vodka

How to make absinthe taste slightly less like gagging:Pour some regular Coca-Cola. Add a little absinthe. Mix well. If you really like the whole absinthe spoon thing, do the burning sugar cube thing, but use Coke instead of water to put it out. It’s called an “Atomic Root Beer”, and you can sort of drink it.

My son bought some black-market type, a few years ago. I no longer drink, the last one was pre that child (he’s 28), but let me tell you, THIS was awesome! No, I don’t like licorice. Wanna know what this reminded me of more? NyQuil. On the rocks. I’d say try that Atomic Root Beer thing, and let us know how it goes. Never throw out good booze, and this, to someone, IS good.

I spent the summer semester in Czech Republic last year, and let me tell you getting absinthe from the motherland REALLY makes a difference. In Prague there are bars specifically for getting shmammered on absinthe and I took full advantage of it. Not sure if it was the absinthe or not, but I definitely remember a drunk german in neon yellow lederhosen.

Just wanted you to know you have at least 1 male Teste out here following your posts. Love your blog, but I’m a bit concerned you just may be my ex-wife. If you are not, at least in the kitchen, you could be her twin sister. She was screwing up recipe’s long before there was a Pinterest!Keep testing & please, keep reporting!Ken – http://www.1dustytrack.com

Oh man, my first real drunk experience was with raw absinthe, and you
can probably guess how well that went! But there’s actually a really
nice absinthe cocktail called Death in the Afternoon, where you mix
champagne/sparkling wine and absinthe, and it’s delicious!

i loved absinthe the first time i tried it… but then again, i love
licorice. this sounds interesting… along with the death in the
afternoon one someone mentioned in the comments… will certainly have
to try when I’m no longer breastfeeding lol

I was so excited to try Absinthe, it having been banned most of my life, image my disappointment when I realized it tasted just like the “NightQuil” of my youth, when it was still appox 50% alcohol. I have a bottle which my daughter gave me when she moved, I’m still willing to try again and I’m looking for any drink suggestions

I was reading your funny description of Absinthe…and weboth know it tastes like butt because as you we were enamored by its history…but his only response is “I bookmarked that documentary!” I love my dork and your funny blog!www.myownbigworld.wordpress.comwww.henderbalz.come

Hey, I just wanted to let you know the proper way to drink absinthe. I only know because I am currently living in Germany and have a shop down the road that makes absinthe. First pour your shot of absinthe, then pour put sugar into a mess or something that won’t let the sugar fall through, next pour about half a shot (or more to your liking) over the sugar into the absinthe, finally drink. If you feel kind of piro at the time you can light your drink on fire first (traditional). Good luck with the rest of your absinthe.